Operational Level Agreement (OLA) Template

Operating Level Agreement (OLA) Template

About this template
This template provides a consistent format for all Operating Level Agreements (OLAs) between internal departments of ITS and
a recognized IT customer requesting IT services(s). It addresses responsibilities and procedures for these internal departments,
whose purpose is to provide IT services and support to the UCSC community. The objective of the OLA is to present a clear,
concise and measurable description of the services provided.

The OLA template is maintained by ITSM. If you have suggested changes to the template, please contact name at phone #.

How to use this template

• Save this template under a new name before making any changes.
To save the template under a new name

1 On the File menu, click Save As. The Save As window opens.
2 In the Save in box, select the location for the new file.
3 Enter a new name in the File name box.
4 Click Save.
• Use only the sections of this document relevant to the SLA being addressed. Delete any non-relevant sections.
• Delete any blue text during final revision. Blue text indicates instructional information.
• Replace pink text with appropriate relevant text. Pink text also indicates a cross-reference you may need to modify or
delete. Reformat pink text to black.
• Do not revise red text. Reformat red text to black during final revision.
• Delete the template watermark.
To delete the template watermark

1 On the View menu, click Header and Footer. The Header and Footer toolbar opens.
2 In the document, select the template watermark.
3 Press DELETE.
4 Click Close in the Header and Footer toolbar.
• Change the header to reflect the appropriate Service Provider.
To change the header

1 On the View menu, click Header and Footer. The Header and Footer toolbar opens.
2 Select and delete the appropriate items from the header.
3 In the Header and Footer toolbar, click Close.
• Generate a new table of contents after final edits are made.
To generate a new table of contents

1 Right-click in the Contents. A context-sensitive menu appears.

2 Select Update Field. The Update Table of Contents window opens.
3 Select Update entire table.
4 Click OK. The Contents is updated.
• Select this instructional page and press DELETE.

Rev. 03/22/07 1 OLA template final.doc

 Operational Level Agreement (OLA) Template

Operational Level Agreement (OLA)

By
ITS Service Providers
For
[Service name]

Effective Date:

Document Owner:

Version

Version Date Revision / Description Author

Approval

Approver Title Approval Date

Agreement Termination

Approver Title Termination Date

Other Agreement Ref.:

Last Update: March 22, 2007

 Operational Level Agreement (OLA) Template

Table of Contents

Operating Level Agreement (OLA) Template .......................................................................................................... 1

0 4
1 General Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 4
2 Parties Responsible .............................................................................................................................................. 4
2.1 Stakeholders............................................................................................................................................................ 4
3 Service and Charges............................................................................................................................................. 4
3.1 Scope ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4
3.2 Customer Requirements......................................................................................................................................... 4
3.2.1 General............................................................................................................................................................. 4
3.2.2 Standard Hours of System Operation (If applicable).................................................................................... 5
3.2.3 Minimum System Stability Objectives (if applicable) ................................................................................. 5
3.2.4 Charges (if applicable).................................................................................................................................... 5
3.3 Assumptions ........................................................................................................................................................... 5
4 Service Provider Requirements (Roles and Responsibilities) ...................................................................... 5
5 Hours of Coverage, Response Times & Escalation ........................................................................................ 6
5.1 Work Requests (if applicable) ............................................................................................................................... 6
5.2 Service Request ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
5.3 Incident and Problem Management ...................................................................................................................... 6
Normal Incident Processing......................................................................................................................................... 6
Major Incident Handling.............................................................................................................................................. 6
Problem Management .................................................................................................................................................. 7
5.4 Service Maintenance/Change Management ......................................................................................................... 7
5.5 Service Exceptions ................................................................................................................................................. 7
6 Reporting, Reviewing and Auditing ................................................................................................................... 8

Last Update: March 22, 2007

 Operational Level Agreement (OLA) Template

1 General Overview

This document represents an Operational Level Agreement (“OLA”) between the service providers to document
the working relationships and response times for supporting [service name from service catalog or elsewhere]
(“The Service”). This OLA shall remain valid until revised or terminated.

The purpose of this Operational Level Agreement (“OLA” or “Agreement”) is to ensure that the proper
elements and commitments are in place to provide consistent service support and delivery to the Customer(s) by
the Service Provider(s).

The goal of this Agreement is to obtain mutual agreement for service provision between ITS units.

The objectives of this Agreement are to:

• Provide clear reference to service ownership, accountability, roles and/or responsibilities.

• Present a clear, concise and measurable description of service provision to the customer.
• Match perceptions of expected service provision with actual service support & delivery.

Include / revise Purpose, Goal and/or Objectives relative to the specific goals and/or services of the
organization.
Tip: Complete other parts of this template and come back to this section for specific goals and objectives.

2 Parties Responsible
2.1 Stakeholders
List all relevant contact persons, for example:
The following Service Provider(s) will be used as the basis of the Agreement and represent the primary
stakeholders associated with this OLA:

Stakeholder Title / Role * Contact Information

[Stakeholder 1] [Title / Role] [Contact Information]
[Stakeholder 2] [Title / Role] [Contact Information]

*NOTE: Availability is defined in Section 4, Hours of Coverage, Response Time & Escalations.
Phone numbers are not to be used during off-working hours unless specified in this section.

3 Service and Charges

3.1 Scope
Place the technical description of the service here.

3.2 Customer Requirements

Customer responsibilities and/or requirements in support of this Agreement include: List Customer
responsibilities and requirements.

3.2.1 General
• Adherence to any related policies, processes and procedures outlined in xxx
• Advanced scheduling of all service related requests and other special services with the Service
Provider.
• Payment for all service-related setup and/or configuration costs prior to service provision.

Last Update: March 22, 2007

 Operational Level Agreement (OLA) Template

• Review related service hours logged by Service Provider for accuracy.

• Review all service related reports distributed by the Service Provider.
• Reasonable availability of customer representative(s) when resolving a service related incident or
request.
3.2.2 Standard Hours of System Operation (If applicable)

3.2.3 Minimum System Stability Objectives (if applicable)

3.2.4 Charges (if applicable)

3.3 Assumptions
• Services are clearly documented in the service catalog.
• Major upgrades treated as a project outside the scope of this Agreement.
• Funding for major updates will be negotiated on a service-by-service basis.
• Changes to services will be communicated and documented to all stakeholders via XXX.

4 Service Provider Requirements (Roles and Responsibilities)

List Service Provider responsibilities; these can be categorized by department, application or specific to
service parameters.

Service Provider 1 responsibilities and/or requirements in support of this Agreement include:

Service Provider 1 agrees to:
• Meet response times associated with the priority assigned to incidents and service requests.
• Generating quarterly reports on service levels for Customer.
• Training required staff on appropriate service support tools.
• Logging all Provider resource hours associated with services provided for review by the
Customer, if applicable.
• Appropriate notification to Customer for all scheduled maintenance via the Maintenance Calendar,
Service Catalog web page and/or a communication to campus via Lisa Bono.
• Facilitation of all service support activities involving incident, problem, change, release and
configuration management.
• Xx will perform blah
• Xx will perform blah
Service Provider 2 responsibilities and/or requirements in support of this Agreement include:
Service Provider 2 agrees to:
• Meet response times associated with the priority assigned to incidents and service requests.
• Generating quarterly reports on service levels for Customer.
• Training required staff on appropriate service support tools.
• Logging all Provider resource hours associated with services provided for review by the
Customer, if applicable.
• Appropriate notification to Customer for all scheduled maintenance via the Maintenance Calendar,
Service Catalog web page and/or a communication to campus via Lisa Bono.
• Facilitation of all service support activities involving incident, problem, change, release and
configuration management.
• Xx will perform blah
• Xx will perform blah

Service Provider 3 responsibilities and/or requirements in support of this Agreement include:

Service Provider 3 agrees to:
• Meet response times associated with the priority assigned to incidents and service requests.
• Generating quarterly reports on service levels for Customer.
• Training required staff on appropriate service support tools.

Last Update: March 22, 2007

 Operational Level Agreement (OLA) Template

• Logging all Provider resource hours associated with services provided for review by the
Customer, if applicable.
• Appropriate notification to Customer for all scheduled maintenance via the Maintenance Calendar,
Service Catalog web page and/or a communication to campus via Lisa Bono.
• Facilitation of all service support activities involving incident, problem, change, release and
configuration management.
• Xx will perform blah
• Xx will perform blah

5 Hours of Coverage, Response Times & Escalation

This section validates the supported processes to manage service delivery. Exceptions are also documented.

5.1 Work Requests (if applicable)

Describe work requests related to this service. Application upgrades, OS Patches, architecture
changes, etc.

5.2 Service Request

Clear and unambiguous definitions of how long it will take the parties to respond. For example, if the
OLA is between the Service Desk and the mainframe group, this section might include the definition of
initial response to inquiry; time to review and evaluate; time to perform diagnostics; etc. These times
must align with the escalation times as well.
In support of service outlined in this Agreement, the Service Provider will respond to service related
incidents and/or requests submitted by the Customer within the following time frames:

Outline how to request the service and expected response and deliver times. Outline working durations
and customer/client interactions. This is not the service level but is key performance indicators (KPIs)
that are monitored and reported on. Internal KPIs may or may not be translated into the metrics used
for the SLA. The SLA will state the outer bounds of the service delivery timeframe and service related
metrics.

5.3 Incident Management

Normal Incident Processing

Service Providers supporting this service will prioritize incoming service incidents as normal priority unless
the service incident fits one or more of the criteria listed in Subsection Major Incident Handling section.

Service Service Hours and Conditions Backup Contacted under Response Time
Provider what conditions
Service
Provider 1
Service
Provider 2

Major Incident Handling

This is a placeholder for the nearly ready major incident handling process. This section will be updated once
the process is “blessed”.
Service Providers supporting this service will prioritize incoming incident requests as “high” priority if it
meets any one of the following criteria:

Last Update: March 22, 2007

 Operational Level Agreement (OLA) Template

 Significant number of people affected.

o Organizational structure is a multiplier for number of people affected.
 Percentage of total tasks that can no longer be performed by individuals.
 Academic and Administrative Calendar deadlines.
 Significant impact on the delivery of instruction.
 Significant or lasting impact on student academic performance.
 Significant risk to law, rule, or policy compliance.

It will be necessary to escalate this service to a high priority under these circumstances:
Situation 1 (these can be spelled out here in list form or in the table only)
Situation 2

Service Service Hours and Backup Contacted Escalation Rules Response

Provider Conditions under what conditions Time
Service Situation 1
Provider 1
Service Situation 2
Provider 2

5.4 Problem Management

This section is a placeholder for the problem management process.

5.5 Service Maintenance/Change Management

All services and/or related components require regularly scheduled maintenance (“Maintenance Window”)
in order to meet established service levels. These activities will render systems and/or applications
unavailable for normal user interaction for the following locations and timeframes:

Location(s): [Location(s)]
Timeframe(s): [Timeframe(s)] e.g.: 2:00 a.m., Sundays, U.S. Eastern time

Time Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Begin
End

Add additional locations and timeframes as required. For example, adding tables for standard
maintenance or major upgrades/changes.

5.6 Service Exceptions

Any deviations from current policies, processes and standards are noted by the following Service
Exceptions: (Insert any special exceptions related to coverage times and dates)

Exception Parameters Coverage

Federal Holidays
Fiscal Year Close
Emergency service
coverage
N/A No coverage
Last business day in Additional coverage, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. U.S.
May Eastern time
Critical business need Customer may request support by contacting the
Help Desk during from 8am-5pm or xx from 5pm-
8am

Last Update: March 22, 2007

 Operational Level Agreement (OLA) Template

6 Reporting, Reviewing and Auditing

Any agreement requires oversight and reporting, and no agreement runs forever. This section clearly defines
the duration of the OLA, when and under what conditions to review the OLA, and when, what and to whom to
report. Also included in this section should be how Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are reported on so that
the OLA owner can track performance and if required take action before breaches occur.

This Agreement is valid from the Effective Date outlined herein and is valid until the Date of Termination.
The Agreement should be reviewed at a minimum once per fiscal year; however, in lieu of a review during any
period specified, the current Agreement will remain in effect.

The Designated Review Owner (“Document Owner”) is responsible for facilitating regular reviews of this
document. Contents of this document may be amended as required, provided mutual agreement is obtained from
the primary stakeholders and communicated to all affected parties. The Document Owner will incorporate all
subsequent revisions and obtain mutual agreements / approvals as required.

Designated Review Owner: [Document Owner]

Review Period: [Review Period] e.g. “Annually” or “Quarterly”
Previous Review Date: [Last or Previous Review Date]
Next Review Date: [Next Review Date]

KPIs for this service are listed through out Section 5. Reporting on KPIs will take place (daily, monthly,
quarterly) and made accessible internally at location.

This Agreement will be posted to the following location and will be made accessible to all stakeholders:

Document Location: [OLA Directory and/or Location]

Last Update: March 22, 2007